Tides of Remembrance: Stitching Bonnets for Waterford’s Transported Women
This project is a two-hour staff–student workshop that responds to the Roses from the Heart global memorial to transported convict women and the work of Waterford’s Transported Convict Women: A Herstory.
Between 1788 and 1853, over 25,000 women were sentenced as convicts and transported by ship from Ireland and Britain to Australia, including 388 from Waterford. Many were young, poor, and criminalised for minor offences linked to poverty and social upheaval; once they stepped on board, they faced a one-way sea journey that meant permanent separation from home and family. The Roses from the Heart and Waterford’s Transported Convict Women: A Herstory projects honour these women with a simple bonnet bearing her name and details, transforming a symbol of domestic service into an act of remembrance and care.
For this workshop, students will each receive a premade bonnet and will choose one woman transported from Waterford to Van Diemen’s Land or New South Wales to dedicate it to, drawing on short biographies and existing research.
The event takes place at Luke Wadding Library, Cork Road Campus, Waterford. Limited places available and free to attend. Contact jennifer.omahoney@setu.ie or Kieran.Cronin@setu.ie for booking and enquiries.